Blizzard just (accidentally) revealed the next WoW expansion, Warlords of Draenor, through an image caught by MMO-Champion before the livestream at Blizzcon this morning. Blizzard confirmed that there will be a WoW related announcement during Blizzcon this year, but the cat's out of the bag. Good one, Blizzard.

As expected, WoD had a domain registered about a month ago, as well as a submitted trademark.

Updated!

During the panel, Chris Metzen gives us this vision of Blizzard's idea for Warlords of Draenor.

After the events of the seige of Orgrimmar, Garrosh was taken away in chains. A trial will take place, but before the verdict is dealt, Garrosh will escape. After his escape, players learn that Garrosh has a new ally. One with the ability to bend time. Thus, with his new hatred of the Horde, Garrosh goes back in time to redeem the orcish ideal as he sees it. He wants to stop the moment where the orcs drink the blood of Mannoroth.

Garrosh wants to build a very different kind of Horde--a dark horde--that runs in the same time as the rest of the world. He wants to build an army to take down both the Horde and the Alliance.

The new villain was not announced. However, Metzen did hint towards future packs; so those of you thinking this is the end, Blizzard isn't ready just yet.

"How this one escalates... will spill over into the next one."

The new world of Draenor will be introduced

Draenor was the homeworld of the orcs before it was shattered into Outland. It is the heart of the draenai civilization, a primal world of giants, and contains seven new zones. You'll be adventuring there to defeat the Iron Horde, Garrosh's new army. Garrosh plans to take them through the dark portal, and in to Azeroth.

The zones have been completely redone from scratch, though Draenor is roughly the same size as Outlands. The bottom left continent is an unknown continent.

Players will get to this zone through an introductory experience that gets everyone in the loop so you won't miss out on any part of the story. A launch event will... launch... the expansion. It sounds cool, at least. Even if it is described as a suicide mission.

Horde will go to Frostfire Ridge, home of the Frostwolf Clan and the Thunderlord Clan--the latter of which is about to join the Iron Horde. Bladespire Fortress, controlled by ogres, will become the new Horde City.

The Alliance will go to Shadowmoon Valley, which has been redone as a zone where the sun never rises. Shadowmoon Valley is the future home of the Black Temple, but for now, The Alliance will be aiding Karabor, the Draenai holy temple, to take the city back and turn it in to the new Alliance city.

Garrisons

A garrison is the ability for players to build their own bases on Draenor (the WoW version of player housing). Garrisons will be visible to players as they fly through the zone and run past on mounts. Players can collect followers to send on missions, and customize their base down to the zone they want to build it in. Workers will also work in offline progression, meaning that the game doesn't stop just because you've logged out.

Players not only get a piece of land to call they're own, but they also get benefits from buildings and limited access to professions you haven't trained.

Garrisons, much like everything else in WoW, level over a course of three tiers. As it grows, you'll get more bonuses and more buildings.

Buildings may give players buffs outside of their garrison, or buff followers. Each building can upgrade three times, and then a building can go in to a specialization--much like a talent tree.

Buildings can also unlock specialized missions for your followers. For instance, infirmaries will unlock rescue missions, and only garrisons with infirmaries can run those missions.

Garrisons are directly integrated into the world--no loading screens, no instance screens.

Monuments and trophies will also be available for you to decorate your garrison.

Achievements may translate into monuments later on.

Horde and Alliance garrisons will have completely different looks.

Followers have abilities and traits and can be bribed or factioned. They level from 90 to 100, just like players. Equipping them with gear raises their item level. Followers also have a quality/rarity trait and can be named.

New models for races

New models for all races will be available in the expansion. Blizzard's highest priority was to keep the soul of the original model with an updated look. Visual fidelity has been raised (textures, polygons, etc). Facial detail has been completely fleshed out. Model animations have also been redone.

Level Cap of 100, and Boost to 90

'Boost to 90' is Blizzard's new motto, apparently.

WoW is better with friends.

Blizzard wants to ensure that those who have missed expansions aren't left out of the fun. With the purchase of the WoD pack, players can boost one character to level 90, or they can create a new one from scratch.

This includes cleaning up bags and action bars so that you can drop right in without having to fuss over outdated items. This means adding more collections--which include heirlooms, toys, and possibly tabards. These items will be account-wide.

If this doesn't do the job, then perhaps sorted bags will. Players can choose what type of inventory each bag contains; and quest items will not be stored in bags at all. Players can also craft directly from the bank. This eliminates the need for constant self-mailing.

Dungeons and Raids

Seven new dungeons will be available at launch. Four will be available as you level, and three will be available at max. All of these dungeons will have normal, challenge, and heroic versions, and max level dungeons will see normal versions rather than just heroic. Classic heroics are also being intoduced, including a redo of Upper Black Rock Spire.

There will be two news raids and also new world bosses. Flex raiding will also be carrying over into WoD. There will be four types of raids:

PVP

A world PVP zone will be introduced, and will host a battle for control over faction hotspots. Like Timeless Isle, it's more open and more of a PVP sandbox. The original Alterac Valley is a close comparison, with battles that sometimes lasted over 24 hours.

This zone will also use the cross-realm technology to help balance low-population realms. For instance, low-Horde realms will be paired with low-Alliance realms for balance. Realm pairings can be changed at any time by Blizzard.

These changes also include many UI improvements, such as an objective tracker, capture status to show you the status of a capture point, and the concept of a battleground score to give players a sense of how they're doing.

That wraps up the new information given on Warlords of Draenor on the main stage at Blizzcon. Stay tuned for more information as we progress!